


Mother’s Day

by velourianspirit



Category: & Juliet - Martin/West Read
Genre: Adopted Children, Adoption, Angelique is a Good Mother, Anne Hathaway is a Good Mother, Anne needs a hug, Bad Cooking, Child Death, Disaster Chefs at Work, F/M, Flowers, Grief/Mourning, I am so tired, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Depression, May and Francois cannot cook in the slightest, May insertlastnamehere, McDonald's, Mother-Daughter Relationship, Mother-Son Relationship, Mother’s Day, One Big Happy Family, Other, Romeo was adopted by Anne & Will, Sad with a Happy Ending, Sadness, Shopping, Tags May Change, an attempt was made, happy tears, may and francois love angelique so much, please give them a last name, post Hamnet’s death, romeo judith and susanna love anne so much, this is what quarantine does to the fair verona discord server, what is May’s last name
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-22
Updated: 2020-03-24
Packaged: 2021-02-28 18:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23261569
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/velourianspirit/pseuds/velourianspirit
Summary: Mother’s Day is very different for everybody in the &Juliet Universe. All around, everyone has the best intentions at heart. Note; Chapter One is linked back to 'Adopting a Montague', so I'd recommend you read it first, but you don't necessarily have to get the gist of the story.
Relationships: Angelique/Lance Dubois, Anne Hathaway Shakespeare/William Shakespeare, Francois Dubois/May, Romeo Montague/Juliet Capulet
Kudos: 5





	1. Mother’s Day at the Shakespeares

Despite how much she loved Judith & Susanna, Mother’s Day was always an overwhelming day for Anne. Having lost her son only a few years ago, on that day, the wounds were fresh again. She felt the pain of losing Hamnet as if it’d only just happened.

It was unexpectedly hard to deal with on his birthday & his death day. Anne insisted that they would begin to celebrate Judith’s birthday on a different day, because she knew she couldn’t handle the thought of trying her best to celebrate another year of Judith’s life when she’d lost Hamnet. 

Anne just didn’t expect Mother’s Day to be so emotionally draining. She dreaded the first Mother’s Day without Hamnet. Even with the combined efforts of Will, Judith and Susanna, it just wasn’t the same. She knew losing her boy would leave a hole in the family, but she didn’t expect it to hurt as much as it did.

Will stayed in London for six months after Hamnet’s passing. It was his way of dealing with the grief of losing their little boy. Anne stayed at home and cherished every day she had with Judith and Susanna. When she went to bed at night, she cried herself to sleep. Some mornings, she’d roll over and expect Will to be there. He never was.

On that particular Mother’s Day, however, Will was still asleep when Anne woke up. She’d barely remembered Mother’s Day was approaching. A few weeks ago, they’d adopted Romeo into their family, and life became a whirlwind.

Anne smiled as she glanced at her sleeping husband. His hair was unsurprisingly affected by how much he moved around in his sleep. He looked most at peace when he was asleep. Anne pushed herself up onto her elbows, wrapped her arms around Will’s broad shoulders and planted a firm kiss on his cheek, appreciating every second of tranquility before everyone else woke up.

She held Will in her arms for about five minutes, soaking in the calmness of her surroundings, until she heard loud laughter and insistent shushing. 

“Mum! Mum!” exclaimed Susanna, excitedly climbing onto Anne & Will’s bed and crawling over to Anne. 

“What is it, Susanna?” mumbled Anne. It was awfully early for Susanna to be awake; she was a very heavy sleeper, and very little could wake her up. Insistent alarms or semi-aggressive and persistent shaking could wake her up, but little else. “It’s awfull early.”

“Did you forget again?” said Judith. Sitting up, Anne was shocked to see Romeo stood happily by Judith’s side. What could’ve she possibly forgotten? “It’s Mother’s Day!”

Oh.

She looked around the room, not knowing where to look. Beside her, she felt Will stir in his sleep. She hadn’t celebrated a Mother’s Day properly in years. The house was always eerily quiet without her little boy around, but...

She didn’t know how to explain it, but something about that year felt different. She didn’t know why — perhaps it was at the hands of fate, or something else entirely. Anne’s eyes settled on Romeo, whose hair was a mess. Since they’d adopted Romeo into their family, he’d really let his guard down, and no longer cared so much about looking perfect all of the time. It brought a great smile to Anne’s face. Finally, he was able to get the upbringing he’d always deserved by being a part of their family.

Suddenly, it all made sense. Officially adopting Romeo wasn’t something Anne and Will had to debate — they knew it would have to happen for Romeo to be freed from his parents. Thinking about it, adopting Romeo wasn’t just something that they did for Romeo’s sake.

Their family had been left with a great big gaping hole since Hamnet’s passing. The house would always seem empty and quiet, even with the pranks Judith & Susanna would pull. Anne was always yearning for something to fill the hole that Hamnet’s death had left.

When Romeo had shown up unexpectedly on their doorstep in floods of tears, Anne & Will took him in without any debate. And when he opened up about his past trauma with his parents, they gladly helped Romeo through every step of the emancipation process. He was finally a part of a family who’d love him for every little bit of him and then some; not only did Romeo need that kind of support, but it seemed that Anne and Will did, too.

The gaping hole that Hamnet’s death had left was long gone, and Anne had only just realised why.

Offering a soft, tearful smile at her three children, Anne felt extremely overwhelmed at her sudden realisation. “I’m so lucky to have you three,” said Anne softly, trying not to cry. She meant every word — if she didn’t have her kids, she didn’t know how she’d survive.

“We’re just as lucky to have you, Mum,” replied Romeo, smiling proudly as he stretched an arm around Judith. “You’re the best mum any of us could’ve asked for. Today’s your day, and we all want to look after our gorgeous, strong mother more than anything else in the world.”

In that moment, Anne couldn’t have felt any more loved.


	2. Mother's Day at the Dubois'

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angélique was never really particularly celebrated on Mother's Day, but everything changed for the better when she married Lance and became the stepmother of François and May.

May decided they’d spend Mother’s Day with François that year. Their family was still fresh, and May had lots to learn about Angélique and Lance. Even though they’d considered Angélique a friend for many years, she wasn’t just François’ new stepmother, but May’s, too. She was one of the fiercest, strongest women May had ever had the pleasure of knowing, and deserved to be treated excellently on Mother’s Day.

François called Lance a few weeks prior to Mother’s Day to make sure that it was alright to make the trip to surprise Angélique; unsurprisingly, Lance was extremely excited and pleased by the prospect of his son making the journey down to treat Angélique to a lovely day out, as she rightly deserved. 

“Frankie, we need to go shopping,” said May as the couple sat down on the sofa, having only just worked out how they’d get to Angélique and Lance’s relatively new home in London. François looked puzzled as he processed what May had just said. “I think it’d be nice if we treated Angélique to something she’ll be able to cherish for a long time.”

“Okay,” replied François, agreeing to May’s suggestion. “We could always treat her to her favourite flowers if we can find out what they are? Even if Dad can’t get a definitive answer, there’s plenty of florists we can get a bouquet from.”

“Flowers are always a good starting point, I think, but we could always do something more as well,” continued May. “This is the first Mother’s Day we’ll be celebrating with Angélique, and she deserves to feel as special as she is, you know?"

“She loves her jewellery,” mused François, tapping his pen on his chin thoughtfully. “There’s a well-established jewellers in the town centre. We could always start there? I reckon she’d love a new ring at least.”

“Definitely,” said May, beaming from ear to ear. They made it a habit to treat their mother annually when Mother’s Day rolled around, and they were certainly planning on treating Angélique in the same fashion. “A ring and a necklace, maybe?”

May and François set out to the town centre, having a good look around the standalone jewellers. After about forty-five minutes of browsing and slight bickering, they decided to buy Angélique a bold sapphire ring and a unique cushion-cut pendant with a small diamond. Of course, the set was certainly expensive, but neither of them were too worked up about how much money they’d be spending. Angélique deserved to feel as loved as every other mother did, and they were determined to do whatever they felt was necessary.

* * *

Mother’s Day was never much of a celebratory day for Angélique. Her little girl hadn’t lived past the first few years of infancy, and thus she wasn’t ever on the receiving end of the pleasantries that other mothers received. Mother’s Day was just another one of those days for Angélique. A few years prior to reuniting with Lance, Juliet had surprised Angélique with a small bouquet of flowers, a handmade card and a small box of chocolates, thanking her for her kind and generous nature.

Alas, even with her new extended family, Mother’s Day still felt like just another day. She was expecting an endearing phone call from François and May, but little else. Having been accustomed to working on Mother’s Day for many years, it just wasn’t anything special. She’d mourn what she could’ve had with her little girl, Susan, of course, but that particular Sunday was nothing different than the rest.

She woke up by Lance’s side to see him drooling in his sleep, a habit she found incredibly adorable, especially how intimidating and commanding he could be. Despite being somewhat intimidating on the outside, Angélique knew deep down that her husband wasn’t really that intimidating; he was just a passionate, overprotective man with a lot of love for Angélique, François, May and his other children. She smiled tenderly at the sight of her sleeping husband, not particularly motivated to fix herself up for the day just yet. It was still early, after all, and nothing needed to be rushed that day. It wasn’t too long until Lance woke up, rolling over to see Angélique dozing off again.

“Good morning, my love,” said Lance, rolling onto his side to kiss Angélique directly on the cheek. Having only just woke up, his voice wasn’t as commanding as it usually was, but Angélique found no reason to complain; after all, she was so incredibly lucky to be waking up next to the love of her life every day. 

“Good morning” she replied, rolling over to face Lance, their faces only a few inches apart as they soaked in the tranquility of each other’s tiredness. “We don’t have anything planned for today, do we? I was thinking we could go for a walk this afternoon. The weather’s been lovely recently.”

“I’d love that, dear,” agreed Lance, kissing Angélique again, this time on her lips. He wasn’t going to remind her that it was Mother’s Day just yet. It was only eight o’clock in the morning, and Lance didn’t want Angélique to get ahead of herself and think of possible scenarios that would unfold if she thought there was a big surprise for her. François and May were scheduled to arrive in roughly an hour, which meant that Lance didn’t have to distract Angélique for hours and hours upon end.

Lance spent the hour distracting Angélique as best as he could; they spent most of that hour in bed, but Angélique trekked downstairs to make them both coffee about ten minutes before François and May were scheduled to arrive. Naturally, François had kept Lance updated for the entire journey right until there was a perfectly timed knock on the door.

Lance was still upstairs when someone knocked on the door, so Angélique moved to answer the door. She was baffled when she opened the front door of their house to see a beautiful, large bouquet made up of pink roses, germini, white antirrhinums and pink satini tied together with a wonderfully bright piece of pink ribbon. An iridescent tag was attached to the ribbon, and as Angélique moved to pink up the lavish bouquet, she noticed two slightly daunting shadows towering over her.

“Happy Mother’s Day!” The voices of François and May blended together in a cheerful, excited voice, brilliant grins written across their faces. Angélique squeaked with excitement and surprise, immediately shooting up and wrapping her arms around François and May.

She’d barely remembered it was Mother’s Day, only because she was scarcely the subject of attention; suddenly, François and May were standing at the doorstep of her and Lance’s house with a beautifully arranged bouquet of flowers and two gift bags, beaming positively at Angélique.

“Dear God above, what are you two doing here?” exclaimed Angélique, choking up as she looked up at the beautiful blue sky above.

“It’s Mother’s Day,” said François, grinning proudly as the three of them finally broke the hug. “We’re a family now, aren’t we? May and I thought it’d be nice of us to surprise you.”

“Oh, you two,” said Angélique, joyful tears forming as she stared at the couple in front of her. “Thank you so much for this wonderful surprise. I truly wasn’t expecting anything today.”

“We thought it was more than appropriate to surprise you today. This is our first year of being a family, and we wanted to take the time to really make you know how much we love you,” chimed May, grabbing François’ hand and smiling softly. “Now, as you know, neither of us are the best cooks in the world, but we wanted to treat you to a day out nonetheless. Whatever you’re in the mood for, we’ll be more than happy to treat you to it.”

Angélique shrugged. “I was just about to cook breakfast for myself and Lance, so I’d like it to be something quick, I suppose,” she said, ushering François and May inside. “I know it’s rather simple, but I’m quite in the mood for a McDonalds breakfast if that’s alright?”

“Not a problem with me,” said May, struggling to speak through laughter. 

May noted down everyone’s orders and quickly got to ordering the rather immense breakfast order, which arrived only fifteen minutes after they’d ordered it, thankfully. Everyone tucked into their food, which was surprisingly impeccable quality for McDonalds, until Angélique decided to pipe up, starting a casual conversation over breakfast.

“How’s everyone in Stratford? Lance and I were thinking of paying you all a visit soon. It’s been far too long since we saw everyone,” said Angélique.

“We’re all good,” replied François, nodding through a bite of one of his hash browns. “Anne’s still adjusting to the new house, of course, but everyone’s great, actually. You guys should come up for a long weekend soon. The weather’s lovely, and Stratford is incredibly scenic.”

“Of course,” agreed Lance. “We’ll look into it; it’d be very nice to see everyone.”

“And how are you guys settling in? I’ll be the first to say that the house is beautiful,” continued May, cracking open the bottle of orange juice they’d ordered.

“Oh, very well!” said Lance, a sudden boost of energy in his eyes. “Angélique and I are so delighted to have chosen such a wonderful house, especially considering how close we are to the city.”

For the rest of the day, the family had a general chat-up until the evening, where they all dressed up and went out to a wonderful pasta restaurant in Borough Market. Just as everyone’s meals arrived, May proposed a toast.

“To Angélique,” said May. Blush spread like wildfire across Angélique’s cheeks as the most important people in her life joined in with the toast, celebrating Angélique for existing, really. She felt so incredibly elated and overjoyed by the generosity of her new family, and she truly could not wait to spend the rest of her days with them.


End file.
